Clone Wars: Desperate Tactics
by kilnorc
Summary: During the Great Clone War, two mercenaries are hired by Grevious to capture two Jedi, however, they are soon forced to take part in something than just a paying job. They started as mercs, but in the end, they could become heroes.
1. Chapter 1: The Job

**Clone Wars: Desperate Tactics  
**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Star Wars. Rayo Verrani/Shidyk D. Shade owns Dorado the Cragmoloid.  
**

--

**Chapter 1: The Job**

Since the Clone Wars started, the Grand Republic Army and the CIS Droid Army battled each other across the galaxy, fighting for supreme dominance. The Grand Republic Army was led by Jedi Generals and Jedi Commanders with billions of Clone Soldiers, who were cloned from the late, but infamous bounty hunter Jango Fett, serving under them. The CIS Droid Army was a massive force of "clankers", the Clones called the battle droids serving under Count Dooku and his commanding droid warrior, General Grievous.

The two armies went from system to system, receiving casualties on both sides. Ships were blown up, planets were razed, soldiers were killed, anything one could imagine in the horrors of war. However, these two great armies weren't the only ones taking part in this war, no. There were planets who supplied Bacta, the healing liquid that allowed injured soliders to return to the battlefield or wounded civilians make it through the night, and planets who supplied each army with various types of weapons as well as military support.

Still, they weren't the only ones having a hand in the Clone Wars.

Aside from the Droids and Republic, another, but much smaller, group of people were experiencing troubles during the Great Clone War, people who would do anything to make their lives easier by earning a living off the money of people and the odd jobs that they had.

This group of people are called mercenaries, and this is a story of two mercs who got into more than they thought they could handle.

--

Somewhere, in the Outer Rim, the droid General Grievous stood on the bridge of a large battle-cruiser, looking out at the stars and planets as his droid minions went about their duties behind him. He was waiting for new orders from his master, Count Dooku, but all they received so far were reports from factions of their armies. As he stood there waiting, Grievous gave a loud, hacking cough, much as he did every so often. Many people he had encountered would think it was strange, a droid coughing and hacking like he did, but they didn't know him and he rarely gave them enough time to learn because he usually had them shot or he cut them down himself.

"General!" a droid called from behind, "Incoming transmission from Count Dooku!"

"Good...," Grievous turned and headed for a holocom, "I want no interference with this transmission, so do not let any get through!" he barked.

"Roger, roger," the droid who called nodded before pressing a few buttons.

Grievous watched as a life-sized, blue-ish transparent image of his Master appeared before him. Dooku was an intimidating man, what with his tall figure, his face filled with years of experience and knowledge, and not to mention the lightsaber he wore at his belt. If Dooku made people nervous when he was a Jedi, he made many more people nervous since he turned to the Dark Side and became a Sith.

"Count Dooku," Grievous bowed his head slightly.

"General Grievous," the holo-image greeted, "I have a new assignment for you,"

"Good!" the droid commander flexed a metal claw, "What will you have me do?"

Dooku smiled, "I have received word that the Republic and Jedi are doing something secretive, something that could very well tilt the scales of war in the favor of the Republic. While I do not know what this is, I do have intelligence on who may know what it is. You will be receiving data on them shortly, but I will tell you now that they are two Jedi,"

"What is it you want me to do with these people, Count?"

"I want them captured and interrogated, I want to know what it is the Republic's up to," Dooku explained.

Grievous gave a haughty laugh, "That's simple, Count, my droids will find them and-,"

"Do nothing of the sort," Dooku cut him off, "I _do_ want you to handle their interrogation, General, but I do not want you to capture them,"

"What?!"

"Instead, I want you to hire some help, someone who knows how to handle a Jedi to capture these two. When they do, they are to bring them to you,"

Grievous couldn't believe what he was hearing: hire a mercenary to capture Jedi?! Absurd!

"I know you would like to do this yourself, General, but this is a delicate mission and I prefer we execute it with as little loss of our droids as possible. It's bad enough the Clones and the Jedi are tearing them to pieces here and there, I don't want to risk anymore losses,"

"But Count, with our factories-!"

"Just follow my orders, General," Dooku cut him off, "I already have someone in mind to carry out the first half of the mission for you, you will be receiving information on them as well. Do not fail me, General Grievous,"

As soon as the holo-image disappeared, the General turned to a passing droid and knocked it's head off with a quick jab to it's metal skull.

"Why hire mercenaries for a job like capturing Jedi?!" he seethed, "I can do that just as easily without having to pay the scum for a job that's not guaranteed to be carried out!"

"General!" the droid who called him earlier held up his hand, "We're receiving the data from Count Dooku,"

The large droid growled, then started coughing again as he made his way to the console. As soon as he approached, the droid pressed a button and a handful of small holo-images appeared floating about the computer console. Grievous stared long and hard at the images, his cold, yellow eyes locking on the images of Jedi.

"Should I make contact with the hired help?" the droid asked, turning it's head to face Grevious...just before the General knocked that droids head off as well with another punch, "Ow...,"

--

BAM BAM BAM

"Vash, wake up!"

BAM BAM BAM

"Get your ass out of bed, human!"

A low groaning came from the bunk inside the small cabin. Something stirred from underneath the thick blankets that covered the bed and soon enough, a human male in his early 20's sat up, having one major case of bed head.

BAM BABM BAM

"VASH!"

"I'm up!" the human called, his voice hoarse, "Dammit, Dorado, I'm up! Stop your pounding!"

_Damn Cragmoloid, he's gonna break that door down..._ the human called Vash muttered inside his head as he climbed out of his bed and stretched. Scratching himself, he looked down to see where his left arm was once connected to his body. Cursing, Vash Zionz looked around his cabin, searching for his synthetic one, but couldn't find it anywhere.

"Don't tell me...," Vash groaned and slammed an open palm on a nearby switch, causing his cabin door to open with a whoosh. He walked out into the corridors and looked around, "Oi! Dorado!"

"What?!" the familiar, deep voice shouted from somewhere.

"You seen Argos?"

"I haven't seen that mutt, why?!" the Cragmoloid shouted back, "What, he steal your arm again?"

"Yeah!"

A deep laugh was heard.

"It's not funny, Crag, I need my arm!"

"This is why we don't get droids, Vash, that damn Kath Hound of yours keeps running off with your arm! If we were to get anything, that damn mutt would be dragging pieces everywhere,"

Vash rolled his eyes and made his way down the corridor of the Shadow Stalker, a starship of the YT-1210 light freighter-class, and a ship that he shared with a sometimes very annoying Cragmoloid called Dorado. He passed through the kitchen area and the lounge before coming to the cockpit where a massive, elephant-esque man sat in a huge seat, staring out at space.

"We need to get Argos' bad habit fixed or something," the human muttered as he plopped down into his seat, "Why'd you wake me up? I was having a great dream about two Twi'lek dancer girls and-,"

"We have a job,"

Vash blinked a few times and turned his head to face him. Dorado was big, even for his kind. While most Crags were about three meters, at full height Dorado stood past the four meter mark. He was also missing half of his left tusk and sported a nasty scar over his left eye. With his stringy black hair and red eyes, combined with the usual features of the Cragmoloid species and the wicked facial features he wore, most people would think that Dorado was nothing more than a scary thug.

However, Vash knew different.

"What's the job?"

Dorado reached up and scratched his trunk of a nose, "We got a message from the CIS Droid Army not too long ago,"

"Aw man, we're working for Separatists?" Vash moaned, "C'mon, I hate working with either side of this stupid War, you know that! We should just whore ourselves out to the credits of a Hutt Lord or something,"

"They offered us 10,000,000 Credits for it, and 30,000,000 Credits if we do it right,"

Vash sat there for a few moments, letting that sink into his head for a bit.

"...what's the job?"

"Grab and bag two Jedi and-,"

"Whoa, hold on!" Vash held up a hand, "Jedi? As in, Jedi _Knight_?!"

"No, as in Jedi janitors," Dorado smacked him upside the head, making the human lurch forward involuntarily, "What do you think? _Yes_, Jedi Knights,"

Vash held his head and climbed out of his seat, "No frickin' way! No way in Hell am I gonna try and capture two Jedi, I don't care how much they're willing to pay us, I'm not doing that!"

"I've already accepted the job, though,"

"You what?!"

"I got a call, was offered the job, and took it,"

"Without asking me first?! You're supposed to run it by me and see what I think before we do a job, that's how this partnership works!"

Dorado gave him a look, "Run it by you?"

"Yes!"

"I seem to remember a time when a certain 'partner' of mine took a job without asking me about it. Let's see, what was that job? Oh yeah, going through a Republic armada after trying to abduct a commander in their army because his ex-lover wanted him back!"

Vash glared at him, "That was different...they didn't have Jedi with them at the time,"

"Whatever, the point is, we're doing it," Dorado rose from the chair and brushed past him, "I'll wait 'til you pull yourself together before making the jump to hyperspace,"

The human growled and followed the Cragmoloid, "Don't you remember that I have a problem with Jedi?" he pointed to the metal stump of an arm, "Remember how I lost this?!"

"All I know is that you got into a fight and lost the arm thanks to a lightsaber," Dorado muttered boredly, "You tell me this story alot, human,"

"Because it's important!" Vash snapped, "I don't wanna do any job that involves going up against a Jedi, let alone two Jedi,"

"We are anyway, so tough crap,"

As soon as the Cragmoloid had his back turned, Vash, out of frustration, leapt onto his partner's back.

"YOU IDIOT!"

"GET OFF ME!"

--

**Kilnorc: Alright, not bad, not bad -nods- I got a good feeling about this incarnation since I know more about Clone Wars than the Knights of the Old Republic game era. I liked writing Dorado's and Vash's part...they're fun to write about.**


	2. Chapter 2: On the Way

**Chapter 2: On the Way  
**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Star Wars. Vash Zionz belongs to me, Dorado belongs to Rayo Verrani. La Kai Jing is an OC I helped make for my girlfriend, Supernanny, and Beka Tardun is an OC I helped make for a dear friend, Wolfen-Ways.  
**

--

Vash winced as he tried to insert his prosthetic left arm into it's socket. Sitting nearby, panting, was his Kath Hound pet, Argos. Now, Vash loved Argos and even Dorado tolerated the space mutt, but Argos had a nasty habit of going into people's cabins and running out with something of theirs in his jaws. If he wasn't stealing Dorado's blasters, he was stealing Vash's prosthetic arm.

The mercenary glanced at his dog, "You need to stop taking my arm, buddy, or else I'm gonna find a cheap medical droid and have you fixed,"

Argos let out a whine and lay his head on the floor.

Dorado came walking into the lounge area and leaned against the doorway, "He damage it?"

"No," Vash stuck out his tongue as he tried to find the right place in his metallic socket, "No more than usual,"

"You should keep that in a safe place,"

"Thought I did," Vash yelped and dropped his arm, clutching his stump, "Dammit, I hate it when it won't get in on some days,"

Dorado walked over and picked up the arm, "Turn around, I'll put it in,"

Vash looked at him and scooted away, "No way,"

"You need help,"

"Yeah, need help with an arm, I don't need help with having something crammed into my body,"

Dorado grabbed the human and pinned him in a position that exposed the metal stump that was grafted to his shoulder, "Just hold still and don't be a crybaby," he looked at the prosthetic he was holding, looked back at the entry port for a few seconds, then rammed the arm into the merc's body.

Vash yelped again and pounded on the ship, "DAMMIT, DORADO!"

The Cragmoloid twisted the arm around until there was a loud snapping sound. He let go and backed away, smiling, "There we go, good as new,"

His partner glared daggers at him as he held his replacement, "You bastard, you always do that too hard!"

"Well, maybe if you could do right yourself, I wouldn't need to help you,"

"You don't help me, you cause me pain!"

Dorado rolled his eyes, "You ready yet? I punched in the coordinates, and I'm waiting to go into hyperspace already,"

"Just about," Vash stood up, still wincing at the pain his partner dealt him, "Just need to get my stuff together, because as soon as we come across the Jedi, we're gonna need everything we got to even have a small chance of living,"

The Cragmoloid folded his arms, "So, what _are_ the Jedi like?" he asked curiously.

Vash walked over to a large locker sat on the far end of the lounge and punched in a few numbers. When it beeped, he pried it open and looked at the gear inside.

"Vash?"

"One word to describe the Jedi: deadly," the Human muttered, kneeling down to the chest, "They have power over the Force, which lets them move things without actually touching them, they can sometimes predict movements with their Jedi reflexes, and then there's the lightsabers,"

Dorado nodded, looking at his arm, "Yeah, You told me already, lots of times. Speaking of, I'm wondering about something,"

"Wassat, Crag?"

"Why do you have a lightsaber if you hate Jedi so much?"

Vash paused and looked at the cylindrical, metal device in his hand. This was the deactivated form of the Jedi's most dangerous, but well-known weapons. Dorado knew that Vash came across the so-called trophy of his, but he couldn't figure out why he didn't toss it if he hated Jedi so much.

"I can't say for sure, Dorado, I really can't," the Human sighed and placed the laser sword on the floor next to him, "Then again, I can't say a lot of things for sure,"

Dorado just shook his massive head.

"Well, since I can't seem to convince you to change your mind about this job, might as well tell me more about it,"

The Cragmoloid nodded and pulled out a small holopad and placed it on the lounge table, pressing the play button as soon as it was ready.

Vash rose to his feet and walked over to see a recorded image of a wicked looking droid with a cloak over it's broad shoulders.

"Grievous, huh? Great...,"

The droid coughed, "I have heard from a reliable source that you know how to deal with Jedi, mercenaries, which is why I've decided to come to you for a delicate mission. There are two Jedi Knights that must be captured and handed over into my custody,"

"Grievous wanting to capture Jedi instead of killing them...," Vash shook his head, "I'll never understand droids,"

"I am sending all the information you need to identify and put to use in the mission. I will give you each 10,000,000 Credits if you capture at least Jedi, but I will give you both 30,000,000 Credits if you bring in both Jedi alive! Take note, mercenaries, that if you fail this mission, not only will you not be paid for your troubles, but you will be taken into custody of the CIS and executed by firing squad under my personal supervision!"

With a final cough, Grievous disappeared.

Vash clicked his tongue and looked up at his partner, "You didn't think 'Gee, this may _not_ be a good idea' at any point during this?"

Dorado ignored him and tossed a large datapad, "That's the information we were given. Appearance, names, ranks, and last known locations,"

Vash looked at the information, "Two Jedi females...one is a Master and the other is a Padawan, no surprise there. Also no surprise that they're both leaders in the Clone Army, the Master being a General and the Padawan being a Commander," he scrolled the information down, "A Twi'lek and a Human that were last seen around...," his eyes bugged out of his skull, "I hate you, Crag,"

"Feeling's mutual sometimes, Human," Dorado muttered, "Look, we're heading there anyway, so get used to it,"

"This is Republic space, not Separatist space or even free space, but _Republic_ space!" Vash threw the datapad to him, "If there's one thing I know about that in these times is that they're going to be crawling with Clone Troopers and Republic ships. If they're really there, not only are we gonna have to deal with two Jedi, but we're gonna have the Grand Army of the Republic on our asses like ugly on a rancor!"

"We can handle it," Dorado said dismissively, turning and heading back to the cockpit, "Come on,"

The one-armed mercenary sighed loudly and turned to Argos, "I have a bad feeling about this...,"

"Don't say that, something bad always happens!" Dorado called from the corridor.

"DOESN'T THAT TELL YOU ANYTHING?!"

--

"Concentrate...concentrate...,"

"Master...!"

"Concentrate, Padawan, just a little longer,"

In a large, empty room aboard a Republic cruiser, two Jedi were going about their daily practices. Well, the Padawan was going about the practice routines while her Jedi Master watched with a careful eye.

The Jedi Master was a Rutian Twi'lek who went by the name of La Kai Jing, but normally went by "Kai" for short. She wore the traditional robes of a Jedi Master, and the traditional Jedi weapon at her hip. Her calm eyes looked straight ahead at her young Padawan, a young Human girl named Beka Tardun.

Beka was from Alderaan, originally, but she was taken into the Jedi Order at a very young age after showing impressive Jedi traits. Beka was sixteen in Galactic Standard Years, and despite using most of her time in Jedi training, she looked as though she kept up appearances rather well. She had short, blonde hair, save an amount of hair that was tied into a Jedi Padawan braid that traveled down the back of her. Her brilliant blue eyes showed that while she had been learning so much in her life, she was still naive.

Kai cared for Beka like an older sister, perhaps even as a surrogate mother would, but at times, she was more of a Master than a relative. Today, for example, she was pushing her to complete her training so that she could become a strong and valuable ally in the Clone Wars. She watched as the Padawan stood on one of her hands, her other hand held behind her back as she concentrated very hard to levitate nearby objects in the room. The Human's face was dripping with sweat, as she had been training for most of the day, and this was putting stress on both her mind and body. The Twi'lek Jedi rose to her feet and slowly walked around her Padawan Learner, her robes trailing behind her.

"You're improving, Beka, that's good, but there is still some rough edges you need to refine," Kai tilted her head to the side in order to dodge a floating plant display, "Remember: the Force flows through all living things, it surrounds us and it binds us. As you grow as a Jedi, you will come to know more about the Force and hopefully, use your knowledge to use it well,"

"Master...," Beka winced, "If I may say so, what does lifting random things have to do with the Force?"

"For one, you are using the Force to do so. Secondly, it helps you practice the command over the Force we Jedi have. If you stick to your lessons and your practices, you will be able to lift larger things,"

"Like what?"

Kai shrugged, "Some people can lift debris such as broken metal from homes out of the way, some people can prevent boulders from falling on them or others...I bet one could even lift a starship out of a murky swamp if needed,"

"You want me to try and lift-?"

"No," Kai cut her off, "I don't want you to _try_ anything, Beka, I want you to _do_. Do or do not, there is no try when it comes to the Force,"

"You sound like Master Yoda,"

The Twi'lek smiled and came to a halt, looking down at her Padawan, "Whom do you think instructed me?" she looked around at her apprentice's work, then tapped her leg. Before she said she could stop now, Beka fell over and everything she lifted with the Force fell to the floor with a loud clatter.

Kai sighed and bent down to her level, "Beka, you can't let a thing like a mere touch distract you. I was going to say stop for the day, but I didn't expect you to lose control so easily,"

"I'm sorry, Master Kai," Beka rolled over and rubbed her arm, "My arm was getting sore, so I couldn't really concentrate,"

"You can't let a simple pain like a sore arm distract you," Kai rolled up her sleeves and grabbed her Padawn's arm, "You will be fine, Beka, nothing major to worry about. However, it seems that I've been pushing you a bit hard lately," she released her Padawan, "Why don't you go and rest for a few hours, Beka, take some personal time to relax?"

Beka climbed to her feet, "Thank you, Master Kai,"

As the young Human left the room, Kai used her Force abilities to clean up the room after her apprentice.

"Kids...,"

Just then, an alarm began to blare.

"We are under attack! Incoming Separatist fighters! Repeat, we are under attack by the Separatists!"

Kai sighed and headed for the door, "Here I thought we'd be having a _peaceful_ journey,"

--

"You know, I can never get used to seeing hyperspace," Vash murmured as he stared out at the cockpit, watching the swirling blue vortex that the _Shadow Stalker_ was traveling through, "It looks so funky...,"

Dorado came up behind him, eating some of the food from the synthesizer in the kitchen area, "Why do you always stare at that?"

"I don't know," Vash tilted his head, eyes focused on the wormhole, "It's...just so pretty,"

The Cragmoloid rolled his eyes and headed back into the deeper areas of the ship, "Why did I ever join up with this idiot?"

"I heard that!"

"Good! Now, tell me if you can feel this!" Dorado grabbed a metal bowl and chucked it at the back of his head.

"OW! YOU SONOFABANTHA!"

"Feed your damn Kath Hound!"

--

**Kilnorc: Alright, the second chapter's up -claps- I'm getting into this more than the other one! Maybe it's because I DO know more about the Clone Wars, hehe. Up next, the first space battle!  
**


	3. Chapter 3: A Bad Feeling

**Chapter 3: A Bad Feeling  
**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Star Wars. Vash is mine, Dorado is Rayo Verrani's, Beka is Wolfen-Ways', and Kai belongs to Supernanny.**

--

Master Kai stormed through the corridors of the _Nebuchadnezzar_, the Venator-class Republic attack cruiser that she, Beka, and thousands, perhaps millions of Clones were stationed on. She was headed to the hangar bay, headed towards her starfighter to help in the battle that seemed to rock the ship every now and then. As the Rutian Twi'lek made rounded a corner, she saw Beka tailing a group of Clone Troopers that were also headed towards the hangar.

Beka saw her coming and waited for her Master, "Looks like we had the same thoughts, Master Kai,"

"It seems so, but do you think you're up to this, I just gave you a break?"

"I'll be fine," Beka flexed her arm, "Feeling better already. I think blasting some clankers out of the sky will do me some good,"

Kai glanced at her Padawan, "Spending your free time with some of the Clones, hm?"

"I can't help it, there's no other Jedi here!"

"Well, just keep your mind on the battle and not on the lack of fellow Jedi here, Padawan,"

"Yes, Master Kai,"

After a short trip through the halls, the two Jedi soon found themselves in the _Nebuchadnezzar'_s hangar bay, filled with Clone Troopers, their ships, droids of many kinds, and supplies. Passing by the Clones, the two Jedi headed towards their respective Jedi starfighters, which were being prepped at that very moment.

"Any suggestions for me in this, Master Kai?"

"Stay close to me, Padawan,"

Beka gave a short nod, climbed the nearby ladder and hopped into her Delta-7 Aethersprite interceptor. As she settled herself into her seat and strapped herself in, she turned to see Master Kai strap herself into her own Delta-7. Beka placed a comm-unit on the side of her head, "Master Kai, can you read me?"

"Loud and clear, Padawan," Kai gave a thumbs up, "Ready?"

"Always,"

"Then may the Force be with us,"

As soon as their ships were ready for take-off, the workers nearby bolted for cover and as soon as the way was clear, the two Jedi starfighters launched out of the hangar bay, joining the decent-sized squadron of Clones that were already engaging the CIS Vulture Droids that were attacking the _Nebuchadnezzar_.

--

While the two warring factions were going at each other a short distance away, the _Shadow Stalker_ came out of hyperspace. The two spacers inside stared out at the cockpit window, looking at the confrontation.

"A battlefield, huh?" Dorado sat back in his chair, "This could complicate things,"

Vash smacked him upside the head, "I told you I had a bad feeling about this whole thing!"

The Cragmoloid turned to him, "It's not like anything bad's happening to us right now,"

His Human partner opened his mouth to retort, but stopped and he pointed to the window, "You wanna rethink that?!"

Dorado snapped his head around to see a large number of Vulture Droids coming right at them.

"Dammit, they must've spotted us coming out of hyperspace and think we're with the Republic!"

Moments later, the Vulture Droids opened fire on the Shadow Stalker, forcing her crew to turn the shields at full power. The shields saved the ship for the most part, but it still shook on impact.

"Way to go Vash, your bad feeling jinxed us!"

"Oh sure, _that's_ what made those clankers attack!"

--

"Incoming droid on your six!"

"Get it off me!" Beka guided her ship through the battlefield, a Vulture droid on her tail, which was closely followed by a Clone pilot in his own fighter, "Hurry up, I can't shake it!"

A blast from behind shook her fighter, and for a brief moment, she thought that she had been hit.

"Got him, Commander!"

She let out a sigh of relief, "Thanks, I owe you one. Master, are you there?"

"A bit pre-occupied at the moment, Beka!"

"We all are, but there's something that's bothering me," Beka looked out at the attacking ships and the Republic cruiser, "This things aren't packing enough firepower to take down a ship that size, so why are they attacking us?"

"They must be some kind of patrol or something," Kai thought aloud as she fired her laser cannons, blasting two Vulture droids at the same time, "If that's the case, they may have already reported our positions and they must be attacking us to stall for time,"

"So we could have more on the way?"

"We should act like that's a possibility, finish this, and then get out of here before we get more visitors," Kai reasoned, pushing her ship into a nosedive to avoid a Vulture that was pursued by a handful of Clones, "Don't gang up on one droid, troopers, there's plenty to go around,"

Beka took a deep breath, "How can she be so calm?!"

The R3 unit that sat integrated on the outside of her ship beeped and Beka watched as a message appeared on her viewscreen.

"Master?"

"What is it, Beka?"

"We're not alone,"

"I'm perfectly aware of the enemy, Padawan,"

"That's not what I mean, Master Kai,"

--

The_ Shadow Stalker_, though it was facing less Vulture droids than the Republic fighters, was having some difficulty of her own. Granted, her gunner and her pilot had a good amount of skill and experience divided among them, it was difficult for one gunner alone to take on the whole force of CIS droids that danced around her.

Dorado gripped the laser cannon controls and fired bolt after bolt, trying to hit a pesky droid in particular, but was having difficulty thanks to a certain someone in the cockpit.

"Dammit, Vash, where'd you learn how to fly?!"

"Probably the same place where you learned your crappy marksmanship with a laser cannon!" Vash shouted back at him, "You barely hit anything!"

"That's because you're crappy flying's throwing my aim off!"

"Don't blame _my_ flying skills for _your_ bad aim!"

In the cockpit, Vash was trying his best to avoid the Vulture droids while Argos sat in Dorado's large chair. The frustrated Human cursed under his breath as he wove in and out of the cloud of droids that attacked his ship. Though the shields were still working properly, there was also a chance they would be disabled at anytime.

"Damn clankers, don't they know they're boss hired us?!" he muttered as the ship shook again, "I hate these damned CIS droids! They're only good when you blow them to pieces and used as scrap metal!"

"Shut up and keep flying," Dorado looked around the attacking group of droids, "C'mon, metalheads, come right to me!"

The Cragmoloid sat there, watching the Vultures swirl around the Shadow Stalker, trying to find a way to nail one, despite Vash's flying. The ship got pummeled, and it was safe for now, but the shields couldn't last out forever. The huge elephant-man gripped the firing controls, took a deep breath, then exhaled.

"Alright...," he murmured in Cragii, his native tongue, "Come get some!"

--

After sending a few more Vultures to the scrap heap with the help of some Clones, Beka found herself looking back at the other ship that was involved in this dogfight. The light freighter had it's troubles before, but now it seemed that things were finally under control on the end of whoever owned and was piloting that ship. The Human Padawan watched as the ship not only danced around the attacking Vultures, but it let loose a barrage of laser bolts that seemed to tear through the Vultures, thinning their numbers considerably.

"Master, about that other ship?"

"Beka...,"

"It's okay, Master Kai, it seems to be doing fine now,"

"That's good, but could you please focus on this end? You have a few droids coming at you right now!"

Beka turned back and quickly pulled her ship upward, barely dodging the number of Vultures that were coming at her head on. The Human shook her head, "They're not playing fair, are they, Master?"

"Most droids don't know the concept of fairness, Beka, they're just machines and these machines are trying to kill us, so please-!"

"Sorry, Master," Beka cut her off, recognizing the tone of voice the blue Twi'lek female was getting. She knew that tone all too well and whenever it came around, Master Kai would be talking her ears off for quite awhile. Deciding to get out of the woods before she officially got into them, Beka began to concentrate on the dogfight.

On the other side of the Republic cruiser, her Jedi Master was looking about the battlefield while her R3 unit made a few beeps and clicks.

"We're almost done, Arthree," she said assuringly, "It seems we'll be able to get out of here before anymore of the Confederation shows up," she looked at the other ship on the edge of the battlefield as it sent it's own share of Vultures to the scrap heap, "I don't know who that is, but at least they're saving us some grief with droids...,"

"General, what do we do about that freighter out there?" a Clone asked over the comm unit, "Should we attack?"

They're not droids and I'm fairly certain they're not anything we need to worry about... Kai shook her head, "Negative, negative. Do not engage, they're not bothering us and-," she paused when she saw a small explosion make the freighter move erratically, "Any and all available fighters, go and help the freighter!"

"Aye aye, General!"

--

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Vash pulled the controls hard, trying to steady the _Shadow Stalker_, "That last one got rid of our shields, Dorado, we're moving targets!"

"News flash: We already were!" Dorado shouted from the gunner's seat.

After a time of trying to get the ship under control, Vash turned the _Shadow Stalker_ around just in time to see the remaining Vulture droids coming at them head on.

"Shields are down, ship's a bit harder to control and now we got the rest of those metal heads on the way. Looks like this is all or nothing, Dorado...," Vash gripped the controls, "Ready?"

The large Cragmoloid cracked his thick neck, "Ready as I'll ever be," he sighed, "Force be with us now,"

"I heard that...," Vash took a breath, "Come and get us!"

At that very moment, as the Vulture droids closed in on them, both mercs were surprised to see a small group of Republic starfighters swoop in and open fire on the droid ships. Human, Cragmoloid and Kath Hound stared out through the windows of the Shadow Stalker, surprised at what had just happened. Sure, one of them may have expected a single ship to come to their rescue, but a group? The Clones made short work of the droids since the mechanical menaces were focused on the _Shadow Stalker_, and soon enough, there was nothing but metal debris and droid parts floating around on the outside of the ships.

"Vash...?"

"Y-Yeah, Dorado?"

"What just happened?"

--

**Kilnorc: Okay, this was my first space battle...I mean, seriously, it is my FIRST one, so I apologize if it's not the good. I looked up space battles from Star Wars online to get a feel for it, so I used those as references..anyhoo, hope you guys liked the chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4: Infiltration

**Chapter 4: Infiltration  
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**Disclaimer: Don't own Star Wars.**

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"I cannot believe we just got our asses saved by the people we're supposed to get by to abduct to Jedi," Vash rubbed his eyes as Dorado went back and forth in the Shadow Stalker, checking up on things while Argos followed the large Cragmoloid, "Any major damage, Dodo?

The Crag leaned into view, "You know I _hate_ that name!"

"Yeah, but I hate having my arm stolen by my own dog," Vash shot back, "Seriously, the damage?"

Dorado shook his head, "We were damn lucky those Clone fighters came when they did. With the shield down, we were sitting ducks and knowing how fast droids learn stuff, we could've been dead," he sighed and put his large hands on his hips, "This is gonna take awhile to repair...sometime to get the money for the repair job, too,"

"Well, we'll have the money situation set...if we capture the Jedi," Vash reasoned, rubbing his chin, "But after we do this, we'll be targeted for taking them, so we'd need a safe place and with the War going on, there's not many except around the Outer Rim," a look crossed his face, "Unless...,"

"Unless what?" Dorado raised a brow, "What's popped into that head of yours, Human?"

"An idea," Vash said slowly, the look becoming a sly smile, "A _very_ crazy idea!"

"Uh oh...,"

"Attention, freighter, attention! This is the _Nebuchadnezzar_. Although we have seen you fight the droids that we fought, we are going to take you into custody for questioning. You're ship is damaged and the shields are gone, judging by our scanners, so if you have any thoughts of fleeing, discard them now because you will be shot to pieces before you can make a jump to hyperspace,"

Dorado snorted, "That's just_ fantastic_!" he cast a sideglance at Vash, "Looks like whatever you're cooking up in that head of yours isn't going to help us,"

"Don't be so sure...,"

"We are sending a squadron of fighters to escort you into our hangar bay. If you are friendly, we will help repair your ship and you can be on your way. Are there any injured aboard your ship?"

Vash reached for the comm button, "_Nebuchadnezzar_, this is _Shadow Stalker_. There is an injured sentient onboard and is in need of medical attention,"

"Vash, what the hell-?"

The Human cut him off, "Shh!"

"Roger that, _Shadow Stalker_. Prepare to be escorted," the Republic officer on the other end cut off the communication as a small group of Clone starfighters came into view again.

"Thank you for that, _Nebuchadnezzar_, we owe you our lives!" Vash switched the comm unit off and spun around, a very smug look on his face, "Well, Dodo? Waddya say to that?"

Dorado just rolled his eyes, "Just get us there in one piece, ya idiot. By the way, who is the injured sentient being?"

"...prepare for a risky game of chance, my big ass friend,"

* * *

"Oh man, those clankers really did a good number on the ship and on the crew...," a Clone Trooper thought aloud as he and his squad led Vash down a corridor of the Republic ship, "You're lucky we spot you guys otherwise you'd have been killed,"

"Yeah, no kidding," Vash nodded, holding his now bleeding right arm, "_Very_ lucky...,"

_Damn you, Dodo, I wasn't supposed to lost that!_

"Are you sure you don't want a medical bed or a sling until we get there?"

Vash shook his head, "Oh no, I'm good. I may be a flesh and blood kinda guy, but I'm actually tougher than I look. How far is the infirmary, anyway?"

"Not too much further. Don't worry, we'll get you patched up and get your ship repaired so you can head back out as soon as possible. Why were you two out here, anyway?"

The one-armed mercenary let out a loud sigh, "My Cragmoloid partner is a _big_ idiot! I told him 'We need to head to Coruscant, my father's ill and I need to visit him' and he said he'd punch in the coordinates into the hyperdrive, but obviously he punched in the wrong things!"

One of the other Clones let out a loud laugh, "Those are Crags for ya. Big, thick and ugly, nothing else,"

"You got that right!"

"Nice ship you two have there, though. Sure can hold it's own against clankers. You two ever thought of enlisting into the Grand Army?"

Vash shook his head, "Oh, no, I'm sorry, but I can't. I've had enough battles in my time," he held up his synthetic arm, "I lost this puppy in a little skirmish on Tatooine, and since then, I'm staying out as many fights as possible. Lucky for me, I was able to get a replacement,"

"Then why are you traveling with a Crag? I hear they're pretty brutal,"

"That's a long story. I just hope he's not getting in the way of your mechanics...,"

* * *

Said Cragmoloid was sitting in the pilot seat of the Shadow Stalker, looking out at the hangar bay of the Republic cruiser that took them in after the battle with the droids, Dorado knew the plan, or at least what Vash called a plan, but he didn't like it at all.

-Flashback-

_"Okay, so we get on board the ship, one of us stays behind with the **Shadow Stalker** and the other one goes around and tries to find the Jedi. When the Jedi are found, we'll make a disturbance, grab the Jedi and __then get the hell outta here before they have a chance to lock onto us with their guns!"_

_Dorado stared at his partner in crime, "Not bad, but I have one question,"_

_"What is it?"_

_"Are you stupid by nature or is this another one of your idiotic moments?"_

_Vash glared at the Cragmoloid, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"_

_"You're the one who's usually going on about how Jedi are tough, and how they shouldn't be underestimated and all kinds of crap for just about any situation, but here you are with that half-assed plan! This has got to be one of your worst things yet!"_

_"Hey, at least I came up with one! You didn't!"_

_"Yes I did!" Dorado said, sounding a little offended, "I came up with at least five plans and you shot them all to hell!"_

_"...just shaddup and hurt me, Crag,"_

_"Oh, you have **no** idea how long I've been wanting to do **this**!"_

_"PUT DOWN THE VIBROBLADE!!!"_

-End Flashback-

Dorado drummed the armchair, "Well, no turning back now," he murmured just as something grazed against his leg. Looking down, he saw Argos looking up at him, whimpering since Vash was gone. The Cragmoloid sighed, reached down and picked up the Kath Hound, placing him on his lap before he he began to pet the hound, "You got a bad feeling about this, huh mutt? Yeah, me too...," Dorado looked out at the hangar bay through the Shadow Stalker's viewport, "I don't know what it is, but I"m getting a baaaaaaaaaaad feeling about this,"

* * *

"Is this the room where the starpilot of that ship is?"

"Yes sir. His co-pilot's in the hangar with the ship, but he's getting patched up," he pointed to the infirmary door.

Master Kai gave a nod and entered the infirmary, her Padawan close behind her. The two Jedi saw Vash getting his arm bandaged as he sat on a medical bed. Beka had seen combat and consequences of combat, but even she let out an audible gasp when she saw Vash's mechanical arm. Kai glanced at her, then turned to the pilot.

"I am Master La Kai Jing and this is my Padawan apprentice, Beka Tardun," the Jedi gestured to the young woman, "May I ask who you are and what you do?"

Vash shrugged, "Sure, why not? My name's Vash and I'm a star pilot,"

"What were you doing in this part of the universe?"

"Got lost on the way to Coruscant," Vash shook his head, "Piece of advice, Jedi, when you're flying with a Cragmoloid, don't trust them to punch in coordinates in the navigational system, their huge fingers will screw you over big time," he glanced at Beka and grinned, "You're kinda cute for a Jedi,"

Beka felt herself turn red at the compliment and looked away, "Uh...thank you, sir,"

"You have impressive shooting skills-,"

"Actually, that was my partner, the Crag in my ship," Vash interrupted Kai, "I just flew the ship,"

"Well, in that case, you have decent flying skills," Kai walked up to him as the medical droid whirred away, "Have you ever thought of mercenary work?"

Vash held up his synthetic arm, "I told your Clone buddies I try to avoid conflict as much as possible since I lost this on Tattooine, Master Jedi. However, if my life is on the line and there's no other way, I will use a blaster if necessary,"

"I see. Well, perhaps you can pilot for us?" Kai suggested, "I'm aware that you have your own agendas, but the Republic is in need of support and we're no strangers to hiring mercenaries, or just star pilots to escort supplies and information,"

Vash snorted, "Yeah, like that's gonna happen,"

"I'm sorry,"

"Look, I'm all for the Republic winning the war, I am, alright? I saw my father get blown to bits because of a Droideka, and I'd love nothing more than to blast the crap out of every single droid, but are you really gonna stand there and say, to my face, that you are hiring complete strangers to handle precious stuff like escorting and information delivery?" he scoffed and shook his head, "Thought you Jedi and the Republic were supposed to be smarter than these things. Hell, you made the Clones, didn't ya?"

Kai tried to quell the bit of anger that was inside, "We didn't make the Cl-,"

"Whatever," Vash grabbed his shirt and hopped off the table, "I just wanna get back on my way to Coruscant, alright? I'm gonna grab my stuff, and I'm gonna head back to my ship. I trust the Republic is still going to help handle the repairs, or do we have to do it ourselves because they only help those who help them fight?"

"I know what you're trying to do, human," Kai growled, "You're trying to agitate me. However, that won't work because I've been trained to suppress the anger that could lead me down the Dark Side of the Force. Now, if you're all better and if you're so damn persistent on leaving...," she stepped to the side, "There's the door right there,"

Vash picked up his gear and walked out of the infirmary, muttering to himself as he exited.

Beka looked at her master, "Are you alright, Master Kai?"

The Rutian Twi'lek sighed and rubbed her head, "Yes. Truth be told, that's the first time in awhile I've been irritated like that in a long time. I don't know why, but that man just gets to me,"

"Hey, he's a starpilot, they're all nerfherders,"

* * *

"Are you sure you know how to fix a ship?!" Dorado snapped as he watched a number of Republic mechanic officers climb over the _Shadow Stalker_, "You look like you're just making it worse! Hey!" he snapped at a couple that were climbing around the gunner's area, "Don't you screw with anything over there, you know how much work we put into this puppy?!".

A beeping came drom Dorado's pocket, and by the sound of it, it was his communicator. He growled at the mechanics again before heading back into the ship, pulling out his comm unit, "Yeah, what do you want?!"

"Geez, Dodo, you're awfully cranky. What's the matter, miss me?"

Dorado growled again at the mini-image of Vash, "I'm just pissed at these so called mechanics. They wouldn't know how to repair a landspeeder by looking at their handiwork," he punched the landing button, closing it behind him and giving him privacy, "What's going on, Vash, when are we getting out of here?"

"I'm not sure, but I got lucky. I found the two Jedi Grevious was looking for!"

"Already?!"

"Yeah, believe it or not, they came and asked me a couple of questions while I was getting my arm patched up. It could take us awhile to pull this off-,"

"A _miracle_, you mean,"

"Listen, Dodo, you were the one who accepted this job without even _consulting_ me, alright? _You_ accepted it, _you_ see it through to the end," mini-Vash snapped, pointing a tiny holographic finger at the Cragmoloid, "Trust me to come up with a plan!"

"Like the one you had to get yourself hurt is paying off so well!?" Dorado snapped, his trunk jabbing the hologram, "I have one, but you never listen to me and that's why-!"

"I gotta go Dodo, I just thought of something!" Vash cut him off before turning his head, as if looking at something, "Someone's tailing me, I gotta end this anyway. I'll meet you back at the ship. If i'm lucky, I'll be bringing the Jedi with me. Later!"

The comm unit went dead, leaving the Cragmoloid standing very still and quiet inside the Shadow Stalker.

"...friggin' hate you, Vash!"

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**Kilnorc: MAN it's been forever since I updated this. Dunno what happened, but it just came to me, so I give to you, mwaha. Hope ya'll enjoyed!**


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